Safe If Only By Your Side
by Jaelina-RouxSimm2396
Summary: She gave a sigh after a moment and nodded, looking at the ground. "Great! Well, my name is Steve Rogers, though I usually go by Captain America in the field. This is-" "Tony Stark; genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Iron Man." "And you, Miss?" The manners her parents raised her with overshadowed her trust issues. "...Charlotte. Charlotte Kent." Feedback sounds nice..!
1. Lost & Found

She was near hyperventilating, searching every inch of this familiar yet unfamiliar city of New York. For nearly two hours since she had unexpectedly arrived in the heart of the town, she has been looking in every nook and cranny for a familiar face, but no such luck as of yet. Even though she was beginning to feel afraid, lost and alone, she was determined to find them.

May be they weren't here; may be they were in a completely different area. A different dimension perhaps with no way of reaching her? No, they have to be here, _he_ has to be here. They were always, _always_ together, one wasn't too far away from the other, almost connected at the hip. He just has to be here.

Everyone she passed stared at her weirdly but she ignored their stares. She was frightened; such a brilliant mind yet a child at heart, being alone, isolated was her biggest fear and if she didn't find him, it would seem that fear, a nightmare she dreamed of as a child, will soon become a reality. She gave a small, inaudible sob as she raced through the rushing crowds, all on their way to work. She passed a building under construction once again, a tiny feeling of curiosity as she overheard the workers babbling on about an 'alien invasion' that had happened a few months back; all riding 'flying chariots of metal' through the buildings of the city, destroying their structures and injuring people and workers. She had never heard of any alien invasion, at least, not any of that description, the fear of isolation increasing tenfold.

She was near desperate, panicking and tears prickling in her eyes, making her surroundings blurry and warped. The noise around her had considerably lessened and only then she had noticed that the streets had become more deserted. Isolation was all around her and she just about snapped, letting out a frustrated cry and leaned against a building, sobs beginning to rack her body. Turning slightly, her back against the wall instead of her side, she slowly slid down, ignoring the scraping of the rough bricks on her jacket. Her head leaned back, she cast her gaze to the skies, silent tears rolling down her face as she searched for him, in case he was flying about, looking for her like she was looking for him. Nothing but birds and planes passing by, a flying tin can in the shape of a man, a cloud in the shape of a bunny—a flying tin can man?

Focusing on the suit as it landed a few metres from her, it was red and gold in colour, and was made of metal; that was obvious. She watched as the person made their way towards her, each step a loud thump sounded and a miniscule whirring could be heard with each little movement. As they reached her, the mask – the face looked to have a permanent scowl etched on the front – flipped up and she was suddenly staring into the face of a man, may be mid-thirties, early forties, with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, tan face and brown eyes. His mouth was formed in a smirk; one similar to Bruce's when acting his spoiled playboy alter ego.

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing out here, hm?" he questioned. She ignored the blush that lightly tinted her cheeks at the compliment and said nothing. He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…" He averted his eyes from her as another man walked over. He was wearing a rather ridiculous outfit in her opinion; he looked like he was wearing the American flag, blue, red and white all over and a mask on his head with little wings at his temples and a capital 'A' in the middle of his forehead. In his hand was a shield; red and white rings leading inwards where a white star sat idly in the center.

"Stark, just… just let me do the talking, alright?" the man sounded exasperated, giving 'Stark' a look. Stark held his hands up in mock defeat.

"Alright, alright, sheesh; what a wet blanket, Cap." The man in blue shook his head at the red man's antics before turning to her with a small smile on his face, trying to look non-threatening.

"Hello, Miss, are you alright?" he asked politely. She stared at him, wondering whether or not to trust him. She hesitantly nodded her head. Stark immediately scoffed.

"Well, from where I'm standing, you don't look alright." The American Flag man glared at him, seemingly ready to knock his block off with the way he fisted his hand.

"Tony, will you just shut up!" he hissed at him. Stark just huffed, folding his arms over his chest. The man sighed as he turned back to her.

"I'm afraid you will have to come with us, Miss." After seeing her wide-eyed look, he tried to explain and soothe her worries. "It's just… we picked up energy signals near Manhattan and you suddenly show up on our radar… nothing bad, I can assure you but, you will have to come in for questioning." She frowned and he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, orders are orders, Miss." She had stood up by this point and was debating whether to go with them quietly or run. It seemed as though Stark knew exactly what she was thinking and stepped in.

"Now, don't you think about running away, you hear?" she glanced his way as she tensed up. She didn't know if she would be able to fight them; it was possible she could outrun them but she didn't want anyone hurt in the crossfire. Glancing back and forth between the two men, she gave a sigh after a moment and nodded, looking at the ground.

May be she could have them help her find them? Help her find him?

"Great! Well, my name is Steve Rogers, though I usually go by Captain America in the field. This is-"

"Tony Stark; genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Iron Man." Tony cut in arrogantly. Steve rolled his eyes.

"And you, Miss?" The manners her parents raised her with overshadowed her trust issues.

"…Charlotte. Charlotte Kent."


	2. I Need A Hero

_I feel so awful for not updating all this time, guys! I've been caught up with Uni, and I just never got a break. Plus, it didn't help that I had no idea what to write after the first chapter. I will say that it might take a while for me to post another chapter, so just try and hang in there! Sorry for all the stupid excuses, sorry for apologising, and enjoy! _

A loud crash in the kitchen caused Charlotte and Natasha to sigh in exasperation. That was the fourth toaster this fortnight that Thor has broken when he couldn't figure the 'contraption of metal' out and destroyed in rage.

Turning to each other, Natasha and Charlotte shared a look and silently argued who was to clean the mess. Unfortunately, Natasha won the argument and Charlotte reluctantly stood from the couch she and the red-haired woman had been lounging on quite comfortably with a sigh and headed for the kitchen, glaring at the smirking Natasha as she passed.

As she entered through the doorway, she noticed the demigod slouching with his muscular arms crossed over his chest of similar physique, pouting childishly. Heaving a sigh and keeping the smile at bay, she walked over to the shattered toaster by Thor's feet and, after picking up the larger bits of metal, threw it in the trash can, dusted off her hands. Reaching over, she plucked a broom and dustpan by the wall and handed it to Thor.

"As I've said before: You break it, you fix it, or, in this case, clean it up." His head dropped, staring at the floor as he was scolded by the smaller girl like a child by its mother. Silently he seized the cleaning equipment and began cleaning the mess he had made, even going as far as the rest of the floor as an apology.

Satisfied, Charlotte headed back to the living room with a skip in her step, eager to prove to Natasha that _Lord of the Rings_ was one of the best movies ever made, though knowing her she would refuse straight up.

Before she had the chance, however, Natasha was calling everyone to the living room, and in less than a minute every hero in the tower rushed into the room. Tony and Bruce came up behind one couch from the labs doing who knows what while Steve ran up next to Natasha with sweat gleaming off his skin, probably from working out in the gym. Clint suddenly dropped down from a ventilation shaft in the ceiling, frightening Steve and Charlotte and Thor waltzed up beside the petite girl, a frown on his face.

Natasha, with the remote in hand, turned up the volume on the large television, the breaking news gaining each and every person's attention. On the screen showed a large man-monster roaming the streets, bypassing the terrified onlookers as they quickly moved out of its way. It was grey in colour with bulging muscles, its tattered clothes showed its many cuts and stitches on its body. It had messy grey-white hair on the very top of its head and glowing yellow eyes that glared at the nearby New Yorkers. The reporter was very flustered and scared; none of the innocent people or the Avengers knew what this… thing was.

Nobody but Charlotte. He seemed rather familiar in her eyes and just couldn't put a name to the monster. But there was no time to decide, all six of the Avengers plus Charlotte, only being on the team for five weeks wasn't fully classified as an honorary hero, suited up and raced off to the scene, though Charlotte was further ahead, running and swerving through the streets and crowds.

Finally reaching the area, the team – Steve – decided on talking with the 'man' first. Stepping forward, he didn't even finish getting its attention by saying 'Excuse me' when it swung a massive fist at the Captain. Luckily, Steve was fast enough to dodge the deadly blow. It seemed, to the rest of the team, that the first strike was an invitation to a fight… well, it did to Thor, who dashed to the grey monstrosity and swung his hammer, knocking straight into its jaw.

Though the impact didn't seem to have caused any damage to the beast whatsoever, it only enraged it further. Roaring so loud the surrounding buildings' windows rattled, it rampaged, running at the God of Thunder. He jumped out of the way, but the beast continued straight through, also causing the others who stood behind Thor to move.

Screaming caught their attention behind them; the monster was heading for bystanders who were too scared to move. Charlotte made haste, almost disappearing to everyone's eyes and reappearing in front of the group of people, and caught the giant's fist in one hand, though grunting loudly at the force behind the punch; the concrete beneath her feet cracked. With her other hand, she balled it into a fist and delivered a strong hit to its stomach, sending it flying backwards and skidding across the ground. Standing up from her slightly crouched position she turned to the amazed people behind her.

"Are you alright?" They nodded frantically and, with a wave of her hand and a word of caution, ran off to seek safe shelter. An enraged roar sounded throughout the city causing Charlotte to turn. The monster was rushing towards her at an incredible speed and, even with her own speed, could not move out of the way in time. Fortunately, a large green hulking monster, coincidentally named the Hulk, formerly the timid scientist Bruce Banner, slammed down onto the unsuspecting beast from above, rubble and debris flying everywhere. Charlotte and the team loosened up somewhat with the help from the green rage monster, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came when Hulk was lifted up and thrown a great distance and smashing into a concrete wall, leaving the other 'hulk' dusting his hands off with a grin.

Captain America tried throwing his shield at it, but it just flicked it away like an annoying fly. Hawkeye tried his arrows, many of which did absolutely nothing apart from the exploding arrow, which just aggravated the beast. Black Widow, however, was smart enough to stray away, only firing off some rounds of ammo instead of martial arts. Thor raced up to it and readied his hammer, only to be flicked away by a massive grey hand. Iron Man flew about, firing off missiles and lasers from his suit, though had no effect.

Charlotte, however, was angered that her friends, her team – per say – were being brushed off like an annoying mosquito, and what was she doing? Nothing but staring; slack-jawed. Gritting her teeth, she bent her knees and pushed off the ground with great force, causing the ground beneath her to crack even further, and sped straight for the monster. The thing hardly even knew what hit him.

Her fist slammed hard into its jaw, and, with sick satisfaction, Charlotte watched as it flew up into the air, hovered for half a second, before falling back down to earth with a massive crash. Dust blew everywhere as everyone watched, waiting to see what the thing would do next. A large grey hand slapped down onto the edge of the crater, and as the grey 'hulk' lifted itself out of the rubble, he began to talk.

"Solomon Grundy… Born on a Monday… Christened on Tuesday… Married on Wednesday…" it continued, yellow glaring eyes piercing into Charlotte's blue ones. Her eyes widened; Solomon Grundy! What was he doing here? _How_ did he get here? Wait… if he's here… than the others must be here, surely! She was so excited, believing that they were – hopefully – in the same place as she was, since the 'hulk' was here, that she left herself vulnerable for an attack.

And that's what Solomon Grundy did. He rammed straight into her, almost bowling her small frame over, and easily picked her up, hefting her above him like she weighed less than a feather; one hand wrapped around her neck, the other squeezing her two legs together. In desperation, she began clawing at the hand at her neck, the large fist cutting off valuable air. Grundy then began pulling her body in two different directions, intending on ripping her apart. Charlotte's eyes clenched tightly shut, forcing herself not to scream in pain, knowing fully well that she'd lose the air in her lungs.

The Avengers, who had just recovered from being temporary ragdolls, quickly tried to distract the great grey beast from hurting Charlotte even more; shooting, throwing shields and shouting, but it ignored them, entirely focused on the tiny human within his grasp, wriggling every way she could to break free. Getting bored rather easily, Solomon found amusement as he lifted his knee and brought her down across it, stomach facing up. The innocent bystanders watched in horror, believing that the monster had snapped the poor heroine's back in half, yet all she did was scream out in agony, before desperately pulling and tugging at its hand at her neck, aching to breathe.

The team was mortified; for all they knew, her back was broken and they could do nothing but watch. They were ready to do whatever they could to help Charlotte, but a loud whoosh and a red and blue blur passing above their heads made them pause. The blur flew over to Grundy and the small woman and promptly gave the former a swift uppercut to the chin. In surprise, it let Charlotte go from its meaty hands; thankfully, the blur caught her.

She took a deep breath once she realized no monster was squeezing the life out of her, but looked up when she felt another pair of arms around her frame; gentle yet firm. Black dots had formed in her vision due to lack of air, though when they cleared away, she gave a shocked gasp.

The man holding her was wearing a blue suit, bar his boots that reached just below the knees, the cape hanging from his shoulders and what seemed to be an 'S' in the middle of his chest; all red in colour. Black hair swayed in the breeze, brushing past baby blue eyes which held the utmost concern for her being and lips formed into a relieved smile. She couldn't believe her eyes; after 2 months of searching, she had finally found him – or he found her! Tears welled up in her eyes and she proceeded to attach herself to his body, arms around his neck, in a hug. Almost immediately, the man wound his around her waist, having to lift her from the ground so he didn't have to stoop through the hug.

Quickly regaining her breath, she laughed in pure joy. It was almost contagious, since Charlotte's hero joined her, swaying her gently in his arms. The Avengers, though relieved that their friend was safe and seemingly unharmed, were rather wary of this new character, even after he had rescued Charlotte. But they were happy, staring at the two people hugging. The joy and happiness of the scene, however, was brought to a halt when the Hulk flew past them, crashing into a glass building. About a block down the deserted road stood Grundy, yellow eyes blazing in absolute fury, and the surrounding buildings shook as he let out a bellowing roar.

Charlotte and her saviour broke apart from their short reunion, glanced at the grey monster then glanced back at each other before giving the other a nod.


End file.
